School of Psychology 10th Anniversary Ball

This piece is submitted by Dr Christine Leong, the school’s Alumni Officer and organising chairperson of the ball, and Dr Miflah Hussain, the school’s Marketing Officer.

Pictures:

(top right) Former Head of School and esteemed guest Professor Peter Mitchell officiates the ball with current Head of School, Dr David Keeble.

(bottom right) The attendees comprising staff, students and alumni pose for a group photo at the end of the event

September 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of the School of Psychology at the University of Nottingham Malaysia (UNM). The school was founded in 2009, with Professor Peter Mitchell leading the venture, alongside Dr Neil Mennie, Dr Elizabeth Sheppard and Rika Imada. The school that started with a student cohort of 17 has now produced over 400 Alumni across the globe within a span of just 10 years.

To celebrate this significant milestone, the UNM School of Psychology 10th Anniversary Ball was held on Sunday, 20th of October 2019, at the Cyberview Lodge Resort & Spa. The ball was officiated by the first Head of School, Professor Peter Mitchell, together with the current Head of School, Dr David Keeble. The event was further graced by the presence of Professor Deborah Hall, Vice-Provost for Research and Knowledge Exchange, Professor Andy Chan, Dean of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, academics, alumni and students. Notably, this was also the very first alumni reunion of the School of Psychology.

In her opening speech, Professor Hall was delighted to welcome the 156 attendees of the evening. She moved on to highlight the small world of psychologists, quoting how she is at most two steps away from all the current and past heads of UNM’s school of Psychology, and ended her speech with a few words of encouragement to stay connected. With a current total of over 230 students and 11 academic members, the school has seen itself grow enormously, which once seemed an impossible task to achieve. Professor Mitchell reiterated this point in his speech later: “We were told by colleagues on campus that we would never succeed in recruiting as many as 25 students a year. That we now recruit up to 80 per year is a testament to our enduring success and good reputation”. The UNM’s School of Psychology’s programmes were the first outside of the United Kingdom to be accredited by the British Psychological Society. Dr Lizzy Sheppard, who played a significant role in getting the accreditation, also joined the ball virtually, commenting on the 10 best episodes from her time at UNM.

The celebratory evening unfolded with lovely performances by psychology students. Sharpshooters kicked off the Gatsby-themed ball with an outstanding dance. All attendees went down the school’s memory lane, with so much fun and laughter, with a wonderful video presentation (link available here: For Old Times Sake), thanks to the 3-months of hard work by the school’s very own students. After a delicious dinner that was entertained by songs from Nadine and the acapella performance by Psychotonix, the ball moved on in search of Jay and Daisy, the best dressed King and Queen of the evening. Adding spice to the event, Rehan Rehman (batch of 2014), who flew all the way from Pakistan, delivered a memorable speech representing the alumni.

A few awards were also presented. An Outstanding Contributions Award and a Special Service Award were awarded to Professor Peter Mitchell and Miss Rika Imada respectively in recognition of their significant contributions and dedications to the school. In addition, two students – Shemone Anne Jeyame Felsinger and Kinenoita Irwantoro won the award for Best Performing Student. The evening ended with a closing speech given by Dr David Keeble projecting the school’s future, some group photos taken and a heated dance floor.